A heuristic algorithm for solving the minimum sum-of-squares clustering problems
- Authors: Ordin, Burak , Bagirov, Adil
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Global Optimization Vol. 61, no. 2 (2015), p. 341-361
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP140103213
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Clustering is an important task in data mining. It can be formulated as a global optimization problem which is challenging for existing global optimization techniques even in medium size data sets. Various heuristics were developed to solve the clustering problem. The global k-means and modified global k-means are among most efficient heuristics for solving the minimum sum-of-squares clustering problem. However, these algorithms are not always accurate in finding global or near global solutions to the clustering problem. In this paper, we introduce a new algorithm to improve the accuracy of the modified global k-means algorithm in finding global solutions. We use an auxiliary cluster problem to generate a set of initial points and apply the k-means algorithm starting from these points to find the global solution to the clustering problems. Numerical results on 16 real-world data sets clearly demonstrate the superiority of the proposed algorithm over the global and modified global k-means algorithms in finding global solutions to clustering problems.
A method of truncated codifferential with application to some problems of cluster analysis
- Authors: Demyanov, Vladimir , Bagirov, Adil , Rubinov, Alex
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Global Optimization Vol. 23, no. 1 (May 2002), p. 63-80
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: A method of truncated codifferential descent for minimizing continuously codifferentiable functions is suggested. The convergence of the method is studied. Results of numerical experiments are presented. Application of the suggested method for the solution of some problems of cluster analysis are discussed. In numerical experiments Wisconsin Diagnostic Breast Cancer database was used.
- Description: 2003000062
A proximal bundle method for nonsmooth DC optimization utilizing nonconvex cutting planes
- Authors: Joki, Kaisa , Bagirov, Adil , Karmitsa, Napsu , Makela, Marko
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Global Optimization Vol. 68, no. 3 (2017), p. 501-535
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP140103213
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In this paper, we develop a version of the bundle method to solve unconstrained difference of convex (DC) programming problems. It is assumed that a DC representation of the objective function is available. Our main idea is to utilize subgradients of both the first and second components in the DC representation. This subgradient information is gathered from some neighborhood of the current iteration point and it is used to build separately an approximation for each component in the DC representation. By combining these approximations we obtain a new nonconvex cutting plane model of the original objective function, which takes into account explicitly both the convex and the concave behavior of the objective function. We design the proximal bundle method for DC programming based on this new approach and prove the convergence of the method to an -critical point. The algorithm is tested using some academic test problems and the preliminary numerical results have shown the good performance of the new bundle method. An interesting fact is that the new algorithm finds nearly always the global solution in our test problems.
A quasisecant method for minimizing nonsmooth functions
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Ganjehlou, Asef Nazari
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Optimization Methods and Software Vol. 25, no. 1 (2010), p. 3-18
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP0666061
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: We present an algorithm to locally minimize nonsmooth, nonconvex functions. In order to find descent directions, the notion of quasisecants, introduced in this paper, is applied. We prove that the algorithm converges to Clarke stationary points. Numerical results are presented demonstrating the applicability of the proposed algorithm to a wide variety of nonsmooth, nonconvex optimization problems. We also compare the proposed algorithm with the bundle method using numerical results.
A sharp augmented Lagrangian-based method in constrained non-convex optimization
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Ozturk, Gurkan , Kasimbeyli, Refail
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Optimization Methods and Software Vol. 34, no. 3 (2019), p. 462-488
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In this paper, a novel sharp Augmented Lagrangian-based global optimization method is developed for solving constrained non-convex optimization problems. The algorithm consists of outer and inner loops. At each inner iteration, the discrete gradient method is applied to minimize the sharp augmented Lagrangian function. Depending on the solution found the algorithm stops or updates the dual variables in the inner loop, or updates the upper or lower bounds by going to the outer loop. The convergence results for the proposed method are presented. The performance of the method is demonstrated using a wide range of nonlinear smooth and non-smooth constrained optimization test problems from the literature.
A simulated annealing-based maximum-margin clustering algorithm
- Authors: Seifollahi, Sattar , Bagirov, Adil , Borzeshi, Ehsan , Piccardi, Massimo
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Computational Intelligence Vol. 35, no. 1 (2019), p. 23-41
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Maximum-margin clustering is an extension of the support vector machine (SVM) to clustering. It partitions a set of unlabeled data into multiple groups by finding hyperplanes with the largest margins. Although existing algorithms have shown promising results, there is no guarantee of convergence of these algorithms to global solutions due to the nonconvexity of the optimization problem. In this paper, we propose a simulated annealing-based algorithm that is able to mitigate the issue of local minima in the maximum-margin clustering problem. The novelty of our algorithm is twofold, ie, (i) it comprises a comprehensive cluster modification scheme based on simulated annealing, and (ii) it introduces a new approach based on the combination of k-means++ and SVM at each step of the annealing process. More precisely, k-means++ is initially applied to extract subsets of the data points. Then, an unsupervised SVM is applied to improve the clustering results. Experimental results on various benchmark data sets (of up to over a million points) give evidence that the proposed algorithm is more effective at solving the clustering problem than a number of popular clustering algorithms.
An algorithm for clustering using L1-norm based on hyperbolic smoothing technique
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Mohebi, Ehsan
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Computational Intelligence Vol. 32, no. 3 (2016), p. 439-457
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP140103213
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Cluster analysis deals with the problem of organization of a collection of objects into clusters based on a similarity measure, which can be defined using various distance functions. The use of different similarity measures allows one to find different cluster structures in a data set. In this article, an algorithm is developed to solve clustering problems where the similarity measure is defined using the L1-norm. The algorithm is designed using the nonsmooth optimization approach to the clustering problem. Smoothing techniques are applied to smooth both the clustering function and the L1-norm. The algorithm computes clusters sequentially and finds global or near global solutions to the clustering problem. Results of numerical experiments using 12 real-world data sets are reported, and the proposed algorithm is compared with two other clustering algorithms. ©2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
An algorithm for minimization of pumping costs in water distribution systems using a novel approach to pump scheduling
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Barton, Andrew , Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Al Nuaimat, Alia , Ahmed, S. T. , Sultanova, Nargiz , Yearwood, John
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Mathematical and Computer Modelling Vol. 57, no. 3-4 (2013), p. 873-886
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP0990908
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The operation of a water distribution system is a complex task which involves scheduling of pumps, regulating water levels of storages, and providing satisfactory water quality to customers at required flow and pressure. Pump scheduling is one of the most important tasks of the operation of a water distribution system as it represents the major part of its operating costs. In this paper, a novel approach for modeling of explicit pump scheduling to minimize energy consumption by pumps is introduced which uses the pump start/end run times as continuous variables, and binary integer variables to describe the pump status at the beginning of the scheduling period. This is different from other approaches where binary integer variables for each hour are typically used, which is considered very impractical from an operational perspective. The problem is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming problem, and a new algorithm is developed for its solution. This algorithm is based on the combination of the grid search with the Hooke-Jeeves pattern search method. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using literature test problems applying the hydraulic simulation model EPANet. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
- Description: 2003010583
An algorithm for minimizing clustering functions
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Ugon, Julien
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Optimization Vol. 54, no. 4-5 (Aug-Oct 2005), p. 351-368
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The problem of cluster analysis is formulated as a problem of nonsmooth, nonconvex optimization. An algorithm for solving the latter optimization problem is developed which allows one to significantly reduce the computational efforts. This algorithm is based on the so-called discrete gradient method. Results of numerical experiments are presented which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001266
An algorithm for the estimation of a regression function by continuous piecewise linear functions
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Clausen, Conny , Kohler, Michael
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Computational Optimization and Applications Vol. 45, no. (2008), p. 159-179
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP0666061
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The problem of the estimation of a regression function by continuous piecewise linear functions is formulated as a nonconvex, nonsmooth optimization problem. Estimates are defined by minimization of the empirical L 2 risk over a class of functions, which are defined as maxima of minima of linear functions. An algorithm for finding continuous piecewise linear functions is presented. We observe that the objective function in the optimization problem is semismooth, quasidifferentiable and piecewise partially separable. The use of these properties allow us to design an efficient algorithm for approximation of subgradients of the objective function and to apply the discrete gradient method for its minimization. We present computational results with some simulated data and compare the new estimator with a number of existing ones.
- Description: The problem of the estimation of a regression function by continuous piecewise linear functions is formulated as a nonconvex, nonsmooth optimization problem. Estimates are defined by minimization of the empirical L 2 risk over a class of functions, which are defined as maxima of minima of linear functions. An algorithm for finding continuous piecewise linear functions is presented. We observe that the objective function in the optimization problem is semismooth, quasidifferentiable and piecewise partially separable. The use of these properties allow us to design an efficient algorithm for approximation of subgradients of the objective function and to apply the discrete gradient method for its minimization. We present computational results with some simulated data and compare the new estimator with a number of existing ones. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
Classification through incremental max-min separability
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Ugon, Julien , Webb, Dean , Karasozen, Bulent
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Pattern Analysis and Applications Vol. 14, no. 2 (2011), p. 165-174
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP0666061
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Piecewise linear functions can be used to approximate non-linear decision boundaries between pattern classes. Piecewise linear boundaries are known to provide efficient real-time classifiers. However, they require a long training time. Finding piecewise linear boundaries between sets is a difficult optimization problem. Most approaches use heuristics to avoid solving this problem, which may lead to suboptimal piecewise linear boundaries. In this paper, we propose an algorithm for globally training hyperplanes using an incremental approach. Such an approach allows one to find a near global minimizer of the classification error function and to compute as few hyperplanes as needed for separating sets. We apply this algorithm for solving supervised data classification problems and report the results of numerical experiments on real-world data sets. These results demonstrate that the new algorithm requires a reasonable training time and its test set accuracy is consistently good on most data sets compared with mainstream classifiers. © 2010 Springer-Verlag London Limited.
Comparison of metaheuristic algorithms for pump operation optimization
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Ahmed, S. T. , Barton, Andrew , Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Al Nuaimat, Alia , Sultanova, Nargiz
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 14th Water Distribution Systems Analysis Conference 2012, WDSA 2012 Vol. 2; Adelaide, Australia; 24th-27th September 2012; p. 886-896
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP0990908
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Pumping cost constitutes the main part of the overall operating cost of water distribution systems. There are different optimization formulations of the pumping cost minimization problem including those with application of continuous and integer programming approaches. To date mainly various metaheuristics have been applied to solve this problem. However, the comprehensive comparison of those metaheuristics has not been done. Such a comparison is important to identify strengths and weaknesses of different algorithms which reflects on their performance. In this paper, we present a methodology for comparative analysis of widely used metaheuristics for solving the pumping cost minimization problem. This methodology includes the following comparison criteria: (a) the "optimal solution" obtained; (b) the efficiency; and (c) robustness. Algorithms applied are: particle swarm optimization, artificial bee colony and firefly algorithms. These algorithms were applied to one test problem available in the literature. The results obtained demonstrate that the artificial bee colony is the most robust and the firefly is the most efficient and accurate algorithm for this test problem. Funding :ARC
Minimizing nonsmooth DC functions via successive DC piecewise-affine approximations
- Authors: Gaudioso, Manlio , Giallombardo, Giovanni , Miglionico, Giovanna , Bagirov, Adil
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Global Optimization Vol. 71, no. 1 (2018), p. 37-55
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: We introduce a proximal bundle method for the numerical minimization of a nonsmooth difference-of-convex (DC) function. Exploiting some classic ideas coming from cutting-plane approaches for the convex case, we iteratively build two separate piecewise-affine approximations of the component functions, grouping the corresponding information in two separate bundles. In the bundle of the first component, only information related to points close to the current iterate are maintained, while the second bundle only refers to a global model of the corresponding component function. We combine the two convex piecewise-affine approximations, and generate a DC piecewise-affine model, which can also be seen as the pointwise maximum of several concave piecewise-affine functions. Such a nonconvex model is locally approximated by means of an auxiliary quadratic program, whose solution is used to certify approximate criticality or to generate a descent search-direction, along with a predicted reduction, that is next explored in a line-search setting. To improve the approximation properties at points that are far from the current iterate a supplementary quadratic program is also introduced to generate an alternative more promising search-direction. We discuss the main convergence issues of the line-search based proximal bundle method, and provide computational results on a set of academic benchmark test problems. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
Nonsmooth DC programming approach to clusterwise linear regression : Optimality conditions and algorithms
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Ugon, Julien
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Optimization Methods and Software Vol. 33, no. 1 (2018), p. 194-219
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP140103213
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The clusterwise linear regression problem is formulated as a nonsmooth nonconvex optimization problem using the squared regression error function. The objective function in this problem is represented as a difference of convex functions. Optimality conditions are derived, and an algorithm is designed based on such a representation. An incremental approach is proposed to generate starting solutions. The algorithm is tested on small to large data sets. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Penalty functions with a small penalty parameter
- Authors: Rubinov, Alex , Yang, Xiao , Bagirov, Adil
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Optimization Methods and Software Vol. 17, no. 5 (2002), p. 931-964
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In this article, we study the nonlinear penalization of a constrained optimization problem and show that the least exact penalty parameter of an equivalent parametric optimization problem can be diminished. We apply the theory of increasing positively homogeneous (IPH) functions so as to derive a simple formula for computing the least exact penalty parameter for the classical penalty function through perturbation function. We establish that various equivalent parametric reformulations of constrained optimization problems lead to reduction of exact penalty parameters. To construct a Lipschitz penalty function with a small exact penalty parameter for a Lipschitz programming problem, we make a transformation to the objective function by virtue of an increasing concave function. We present results of numerical experiments, which demonstrate that the Lipschitz penalty function with a small penalty parameter is more suitable for solving some nonconvex constrained problems than the classical penalty function.
- Description: 2003000116
Piecewise partially separable functions and a derivative-free algorithm for large scale nonsmooth optimization
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Ugon, Julien
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Global Optimization Vol. 35, no. 2 (Jun 2006), p. 163-195
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This paper introduces the notion of piecewise partially separable functions and studies their properties. We also consider some of many applications of these functions. Finally, we consider the problem of minimizing of piecewise partially separable functions and develop an algorithm for its solution. This algorithm exploits the structure of such functions. We present the results of preliminary numerical experiments.
- Description: 2003001532
Preface of the special issue OR: Connecting sciences supported by global optimization related to the 25th European conference on operational research (EURO XXV 2012)
- Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Miettinen, Kaisa , Weber, Gerhard-Wilhelm
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Global Optimization Vol. 60, no. 1 (June 2014), p. 1-3
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: C1
Solving DC programs using the cutting angle method
- Authors: Ferrer, Albert , Bagirov, Adil , Beliakov, Gleb
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Global Optimization Vol. 61, no. 1 (2015), p. 71-89
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP140103213
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In this paper, we propose a new algorithm for global minimization of functions represented as a difference of two convex functions. The proposed method is a derivative free method and it is designed by adapting the extended cutting angle method. We present preliminary results of numerical experiments using test problems with difference of convex objective functions and box-constraints. We also compare the proposed algorithm with a classical one that uses prismatical subdivisions.